In many offices around the world, a receptionist answers the telephone, and is required to fill out message slips for various personnel upon receipt of incoming calls. Typically these slips, which might bear a phrase such as "while you were out," include places the fill in the name, company and telephone number of the individual originating the call, the name of the individual to which the message should be directed, the date and the time of day. In addition, there is a section for entering a more particularized message, and boxes to check such as "returned your call," or "will call again."
This process of filling out message slips can be quite inefficient, especially if only one or a few receptionists are required to answer calls for a large number of individuals who may be coming and going. Ironically, certain of the information placed on the slip, such as date and time, could be generated electronically, thereby streamlining the process. As such, any system or method of use which could automate any aspect of this procedure would be welcomed by the business community.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,256 to Hu entitled PBX TELEPHONE WITH MESSAGE PRINTER discloses a digital telephone including a display and a printer mechanism having the capability to print information corresponding to what is currently displayed as well as messages from other stations. The messages may be printed out as they come to the station, or may be stored in memory for subsequent print out, thereby obviating the need for filling out hand-written message slips since, instead, a printed copy of each message can be directly provided and distributed to the appropriate personnel.
Although the system described by Hu is quite versatile for its intended purpose, it is limited in that it is intended for incorporation into a digital PBX system with a level of sophistication that might be unaffordable to smaller businesses. In addition, since new information is entered exclusively through the use of a keyboard, some form of general-purpose computer is required, as there is no provision for entering graphical information or for handwriting recognition.